Whipple Observatory

The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (closer) is located on the slopes of Mount Hopkins in the area of Amado, AZ. Mt. Hopkins has an elevation of 8550 ft (2606 m). It is the second highest peak in the Santa Rita Mountain range.

It is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and is their largest field installation outside of their main site in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is jointly operated by the University of Arizona and often hosts astronomers and research projects from other countries, especially from South America.

It consists of three reflector telescopes for solar system, galactic and extragalactic astronomy; two reflector telescopes for infrared observations, especially of gamma-ray burst afterglows and supernovae; an array of four 12-meter reflectors for gamma-ray astronomy; and two optical refractor telescopes, used for robotic searches for variable stars and exoplanets.

As Southern Arizona continues to develop, light pollution is a continuing problem, however, towns and cities have light laws to help the local observatories. Such laws include things such as banning lights on billboards and pointing streetlights in a downward direction.

This is the view from my patio.